Global military expenditure increased for the first time since 2011. The military forces around the world spent almost $1.7 trillion in 2015, report says.
According Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the global military spending increased by one percent from 2014. The total expenditure was 2.3 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP).
Military expenditure largely decreased in North America, Africa, Latin America, and in the Caribbean. On the other hand, spending increased in Asia, Oceania, Central and Eastern Europe.
Middle East countries had a substantial increase on expenditure, based on available data.
The decrease in the price of oil also caused countries dependent on oil revenue to decrease their military spending. However, Saudi Arabia and Russia still have increased expenditures. On the other hand, Venezuela's 64 percent cut in its military budget greatly contributed in the spending dip of the South American region.
Top 15 Spenders
The United States remains to be the world's top spender with $596 billion total expenditure.
The U.S. started to decrease its spending when it withdrew troops from Afghanistan and Iraq in 2010. Even after the five-year downward trend of U.S. military spending, it is still projected to remain constant at the end of 2016.
Second on the list is China for spending $215 billion in 2015, which is 7.4 percent more. Its military spending was spurred by arms purchases because of the heightened tension in South China Sea, which involves Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
"Saudi Arabia overtook Russia to become the third-largest spender, mainly due to the fall in the value of the ruble." said the SIPRI report (PDF).
Saudi Arabia increased its spending on military operations in Yemen. Despite the sharp fall in the price of oil, Saudi Arabia still had, albeit slow, growth in its annual rate.
Russia is the fourth highest military spender, having an expenditure of $66.4 billion in 2015. The hike in Russia's defense spending, which also spiked the rate of Eastern Europe's, is because of possible invasion in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) territory.
United Kingdom ranked fifth due to the drop in the value of euro as compared to France in the seventh position. While, India ranked sixth with $51.3 billion spent in 2015.
Japan overtook Germany to rank eighth, cutting its long-time record of decline in the past years, caused by the heightened tension between nearby countries. A small increase in military spending ranked Germany in the ninth place, while South Korea remained on the tenth.
Even though Italy decreased its spending by -9.9 percent, the biggest on the list, it still earned the 12th spot. In the 13th place is Australia, which also had the highest increase at 7.8 percent. While Brazil and Israel had a modest fall, taking the 11th and 15th spots, respectively.
Photo: The U.S. Army | Flickr
